STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - A Tottenville man, hurt four years ago when he slipped while climbing a scaffold at a Brooklyn school renovation site, has settled his lawsuit for $1.2 million, his lawyer said.

Robert Thomas suffered knee injuries in the Nov. 16, 2009, incident, according to court papers.

Thomas, now 48, was a laborer for Manley Construction Co., said his lawyer, John J. Tracy of the Castleton Corners firm, Tracy & Stilwell.

The project entailed repointing the exterior facade and repairing the exterior roofing cap at PS 288 in Brooklyn's Coney Island section. Work took place after the school day was finished, Tracy said.

Scaffolding was erected to allow masons and other workers access to the walls.

On the day he was hurt, Thomas was attaching heavy plastic over the building windows to protect them from grinding and pointing.

He was alone at the time and was climbing from one level of scaffold to a working platform that connected the edge of the scaffold to the building.

Ladders were supposed to be in place to give workers access from the scaffold to the working platform, said Tracy. However, there were no such ladders on the side of the building where his client was working, the lawyer said.

As a result, Thomas had to climb the scaffold's pipe frame to get to the working platform, said Tracy. His foot slipped and his knee twisted as he climbed, forcing Thomas to grab the frame to avoid falling.

In the process, he injured his left knee and wrist, said Tracy.

Thomas managed to get down from the platform.

He was later diagnosed with a torn knee meniscus and related injuries. Arthroscopic surgery failed, and Thomas subsequently underwent a total knee replacement, said Tracy.

Despite some improvement, Thomas has been unable to return to work, and still suffers "severe pain and disability," Tracy said.

Thomas sued New York Stone Co. Inc., the general contractor, in Brooklyn state Supreme Court.

"This was exactly the type of case the law was enacted for," said Tracy, referring to state Labor Law, which places responsibility for worker safety on the site owner and contractor. "Here, Mr. Thomas has been permanently and totally disabled from doing a job that he enjoyed and enabled him to provide for his family, due to the lack of simple safety devices."

The case settled after jury selection, said Tracy.

Thomas' Workers Compensation lien of $165,000 was waived as part of the settlement, the lawyer said.

New York Stone's attorney could not immediately be reached Friday for comment.